Former Fresno County teacher avoids jail for sex crime. What message does that send?
Not often does something I read in The Bee make me angry.
Angry enough to re-read the offensive sentences, just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks. Then text the link to two women whose intelligence and judgment I trust (and who happen to work in education) in order to gauge their reactions.
Guess what? They’re even angrier than me. Their responses can’t be printed in a PG-13 rated newspaper.
The source of our ire is contained within Friday’s news article about the sentencing hearing of former Parlier High School basketball coach and math teacher Anthony Lepore, who in November pleaded no contest to a felony charge of sexual penetration by foreign object of a 16-year-old student.
Lepore was initially arrested by Sanger police in January 2014. Meaning the victim is now in her mid-20s.
But that’s not the upsetting part, or at least not the most upsetting. What triggered us most were the words of Josh Carter, one of six character witnesses who testified on Lepore’s behalf before Fresno Superior Court Judge Michael Idiart handed down sentencing.
Carter told Idiart that his friend and next door neighbor Lepore in no way fits the profile of a sexual predator. Rather, his “mistake” was something that occurred during “a moment of pure hormonal excitement.” And as a former police officer and youth pastor trained in these matters, he would know the difference.
“I too was a 25 year old once and I know what it means to let your testosterone and hormones affect your judgment and decision making. I have been there,” Carter said.
“Anthony is guilty of being an idiot, I have told him as much. But that decision was not based on a chronic illness or propensity as a predator. His decision was based on being a good-looking, 25-year-old American male.”
Just reading and typing those words raises my blood pressure all over again.
Hormones, good looks no excuse
Because Lepore was a good-looking, 25-year-old American male, that explains why he sent explicit text messages and photographs to a 16-year-old girl in one of his classes?
That explains why Lepore drove to her Sanger home on a Friday night — she snuck out a window to meet him, according to the original arrest warrant — and proceeded to kiss her, fondle her breasts and penetrate her with a foreign object?
That explains why, according to police, Lepore tried to run down the girl’s parents after they confronted him when he dropped her off back at home?
Sorry, but raging hormones and good looks don’t explain away any of those acts. Lepore made a series of conscious decisions. He did what he did, which is commit statutory rape against a student entrusted to his care. And no amount of clean, straight-and-narrow living he’s done since can alter that fact.
Was the judge swayed by the arguments made by crack defense attorney Roger Nuttall and the six individuals who defended Lepore at sentencing? (None of them even mentioned the victim.)
It certainly appears that way. Prosecutor Nicole Galstan argued Lepore deserves prison time and a 10-year registry in the state’s sex offender database. Instead, Idiart’s ruling will allow Lepore to avoid any time behind bars (he spent five days in jail in 2014 but has since been out on bail) and require him to register as a sex offender only during his two years on probation.
So much for suffering the consequences of one’s actions. While Lepore has apparently found ways to make a positive contribution to the community since violating its trust, that doesn’t erase his crimes. It’s even questionable whether he has truly accepted responsibility. Lepore blamed the victim during an interview with probation officers last month, according to Galstan.
Case delayed by 40 continuances
Why did it take eight years for Lepore to be tried and sentenced? I looked up the case file online and counted some 40 continuances — nearly all requested by the defense. The trial was originally scheduled for November 2015, only to be postponed at least a dozen times.
I sent two emails to Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp asking her to help me make sense of the sentencing as well as the length of time the case spent tied up in court.
Instead of a reply from Smittcamp (perhaps she’s still cross for what I wrote about her in 2019), I received one from an assistant DA. Jerry Stanley, who called the repeated continuances and delays “obviously unfortunate and very frustrating” but indicated it’s not uncommon for a judge to grant such requests “given a defendant’s right to counsel of his choosing.”
In this case, the defendant chose Nuttall — one of the most skilled and experienced lawyers in town.
I then placed a call to Idiart, who declined comment when I asked him to help explain why Lepore’s crimes didn’t merit a prison sentence.
Our conversation was brief. So I didn’t get the chance to ask Idiart the other question on my mind: Does he understand and appreciate the message being sent when teachers who sexually prey on students barely receive any punishment?
That if you’re white, handsome and can afford the best attorney capable of gumming up the legal system, you’ll probably get off light.
Which is something that shouldn’t just make me angry. That should anger all of us.
